This invention relates to a process for the production of catechins, more particularly to a process for producing catechins using tea leaves as a raw material.
Various studies concerning tea have been made for a long time. This invention is directed to the development of a new use of tea leaves and to a process for the production of catechins, in which four types of catechins (epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate and epigallocatechin gallate) can be isolated simultaneously from polyphenol substances contained in tea leaves in large quantities and if desired, each of the components can be obtained in the form of crystals.
The pharmaceutical effects of tea have been elucidated in considerable detail, whereas the characteristics and utility of tea catechin components have not been fully studied because of difficulties in their isolation and crystallization, although they have drawn attention in many fields.
In the continual study of the components of tea since 1965, we discovered that tea tannin inhibits infection from plant virus. We continued work on a process for obtaining each of four catechins in the form of crystals in a large quantity, in order to clarify the effects of the components of tea tannin, i.e. tea catechins.